Entrepreneurship

Cross-Disciplinary Entrepreneurship Initiatives

In addition to the core curriculum, we have been working proactively to integrate entrepreneurial concepts and ways of thinking into disciplines across the campus. All students on the campus are encouraged to enroll in the courses that make up our core curriculum, and we are liberal in terms of enforcement of prerequisites for non-business majors. In addition, we have tailored the Minor in Entrepreneurship to serve non-business majors. While vitally important, we believe these efforts do not go far enough in terms of truly penetrating and applying entrepreneurial concepts to other disciplines. Accordingly, our university-wide curriculum includes the following eleven initiatives: Entrepreneurship & the Arts, Green Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship and Military Science, Entrepreneurship in Engineering & Science, Entrepreneurship in Health Sciences, Entrepreneurship & Psychology, The Entrepreneurial Architect, Entrepreneurship within Education, Entrepreneurship & Veterinary Medicine, Entrepreneurship & Geology and the Auditing & Entrepreneurship Specialization. We see this as a moving target, and hope to continually add new partnerships.

In collaboration with our Riata Faculty Fellow from the Art Department and other faculty members from Theatre and Music, we are currently teaching a course entitled Entrepreneurship and the Arts. It targets theatre, music and fine arts students and is cross-listed with those departments. The focus of the course is less on how arts students can start their own ventures, although there is some coverage of this, and more on how arts students can apply entrepreneurial thinking and core concepts from entrepreneurship (opportunity recognition, risk management, resource leveraging) in their artistic careers. One of the key deliverables for this course is a group project, the objective of which is to apply entrepreneurial thinking and behavior to contribute to “the reinvigoration and socio-cultural transformation of the arts in Stillwater”. The inaugural group organized the highly successful Stillwater Arts Festival which we hope to make an annual event under the auspices of the E Club and the Creativity Institute. Plans for an Arts Incubator are in its embryonic stage.

Green entrepreneurship can include the propensity to innovate or create a green organization or the creation of new products, services and processes to meet environmental market opportunities. It concerns the alleviation of environmentally relevant market failures through the exploitation of potentially profitable opportunities. In Collaboration with our Riata Faculty Fellow from the School of Agricultural Sciences, the Green Entrepreneurship initiative includes module/course development on Green Entrepreneurship, contributions to an inter-disciplinary course on sustainability, the development of a Green Entrepreneurship Extension Fact Sheet and the hosting of a Green Entrepreneurship workshop/symposium in Spring 2012 .In addition, faculty across campus are encouraged to pursue a green research agenda and some of the green projects include pervious concrete pavers, alternative green roof media, an injection and mixing system for flocculent in stormwater, a system for estimating flocculation parameters, and an automated first flush diverter.

In collaboration with our Riata Faculty Fellow from the School of Architecture we are conceptualizing a course entitled “Entrepreneurship and Architecture” aimed at students in the Professional School and planned for Spring 2012. In addition to this, introductory modules on Entrepreneurial Thinking and Behavior have been designed for inclusion in the Real Estate Development course as of Spring 2011. Our Riata fellow is also engaged in a project which examines the role of the entrepreneurial architect in the process of conceptualizing, designing, financing, constructing and inhabiting the built environment. The project is entitled the Collaborative Understanding of the Built Environment (CUBE).

There is a need to encourage innovation and the entrepreneurial mindset within our engineering and science programs. Toward this end, we have developed the Entrepreneurship in Engineering and Science course. We are also working with engineering faculty on ways in which entrepreneurship modules can be dropped into core engineering courses. In addition, we are working on an entrepreneurial option for the project addressed in capstone engineering courses. Engineering students are being recruited for commercialization projects, and are being supported in their participation in the Riata Business Plan Competition, and are encouraged to take up Riata Entrepreneurial Internships.

In collaboration with our Riata Faculty Fellow from the Centre for Health Sciences (CHS) we are currently engaged in several major initiatives in the health sciences arena. First, progress is being made in developing an entrepreneurship module to be included in one of the non clinical courses in the DO curriculum. Second, the Masters program in Health Administration has been modified to include a track in Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation in Health while a Certificate in Entrepreneurship is also being conceptualized with the aim of targeting Practitioners in the field. We are also in the midst of designing a seminar series for their Biomedical Sciences Program as well as offering a dual MSc (ENT) and MSc (Biomed) degree program for this group. There is also active collaboration between our Technology Transfer unit and researchers at CHS aimed at commercializing potential products emanating from their research.

Working with our Riata Faculty Fellow from the Department of Psychology, two courses are currently being implemented that interface Psychology and Entrepreneurship. The first, Psychological Foundations of Entrepreneurship will be taught in the Fall of 2011 while the second, The Psychologist as Entrepreneur is planned for Spring 2012. These courses target students in Psychology as well as those in our large Educational Psychology program.

In working with faculty in the College of Education, a number of initiatives is under way. One of these builds on our successful Experiential Classroom. We are collaborating with the College of Education on a two-day teach-the-teachers program to infuse entrepreneurial concepts into high school curricula. In addition, our faculty is actively engaged in collaborative research with Health Education and Promotion faculty. Modules on Entrepreneurial Thinking and Behavior have also been included in some of the courses taught in the Department of Health Education and Promotion as of Spring 2011.

As the gas and petroleum industry is a major component of the Oklahoma economy, we are pleased to be working with the Department of Geology on two initiatives. Already in place is a series of entrepreneurship modules in their ‘Topics in Geology’ seminar. Work is now underway on a jointly taught course on ‘Entrepreneurship and the Geologist’.

OSU is home to one of the premier veterinary medicine programs in the country. In collaboration with our Riata Fellow from the School of Veterinary Medicine, we will, in the fall of 2011 launch a dual MSc degree program in Entrepreneurship and Biomedical Sciences. It is also envisaged that we will be able to include modules on Entrepreneurial Thinking and Behavior into the Vet Med program. A Certificate in Entrepreneurship is also being conceptualized with the aim of targeting Practitioners in the field.

Our latest initiative is with the School of Media and Strategic Communications. In collaboration with faculty from this school we are in the process of developing a course in Media Entrepreneurship. It is envisaged that the course will be mandatory for all students in the Strategic Communication, Multimedia Journalism and Sports Media Tracks. In addition, we are collaborating on a speaker series.

Accounting students with a focus on auditing can complete the Auditing and Entrepreneurship Specialization. The focus here is on professional accounting when working with entrepreneurs and the auditing challenges and needs in early stage and high growth enterprises.

Our collaboration here involves three join efforts. The first involves the ROTC students playing roles in our National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program. They did so last year and we are growing their responsibilities. The second is a tailored Master’s in Entrepreneurship taught on-line for Air Force officers across the country. We currently have two students registered. The third comprises modules built around our eleven entrepreneurial competencies that could be dropped into leadership courses in Military Science aimed at cadets. These efforts are being spearheaded by our Riata Fellow from the AF ROTC program.

Another important component of our interdisciplinary initiative is the Riata Entrepreneurship Faculty Fellows Program. This provides an opportunity for entrepreneurial faculty from any discipline or academic area to become jointly appointed in the School of Entrepreneurship thereby serving as an advocate for interdisciplinary entrepreneurship. Fellows are also expected to engage in professional activities that reflects the interface between their own academic area and entrepreneurship. This may entail scholarly research or applied research projects, course development or modification, or activities related to entrepreneurial outreach and community development. To date we have seven Fellows from various schools across campus including Psychology, Arts, Health sciences, Veterinary Medicine, Military Sciences, Architecture and Agricultural Sciences.

Critical to our university wide initiative is our “embed” strategy. Faculty from the School of Entrepreneurship (EEE) are encouraged to spend time in other Schools/Departments (and vice versa) interacting with both students and faculty. Office space is currently available to EEE faculty in the School of Education and the Centre for Health Sciences and negotiations with other departments and schools to secure same are ongoing.